


Two Boys, Both Alike in Stupidity

by esmeeeeme



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bickering, Cuddling, Fluff, Gen, Gossip, M/M, Sparring, Training Camp, teenagers being teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-13 23:50:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1244920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmeeeeme/pseuds/esmeeeeme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ymir talks shit about boys, there is a lot of mixed signals, sparring and sparring, confusion, Reiner being really observant and the girls gossiping up a storm bigger than the Colossal Titan. First Attack on Titan fanfiction, oneshot, JeanEren, Canon Divergence. Set in the Trainee camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Boys, Both Alike in Stupidity

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So I finished watching the anime and then I decided to catch up with the manga. I was on Chapter 6 this morning and I read it all throughout the day and ended up on Chapter 20. Yes, Attack on Titan ruined my life, I know. Quoting my classmate from Chemistry who likes SnK and saw me reading manga, “This is the rest of your life. Thanks Obama.” So true, classmate. So true.
> 
> Not only that, but I’ve been shipping JeanEren since the anime cause goddammit, these nerds just won’t stop. I have a lot of one shots started for this ship and they’re almost done, I swear. And in couldn’t resist to write this fic. And yay, I wrote this all in one night. Yipee for me. The title is from Romeo and Juliet cause why the hell not? It had a nice ring to it.
> 
> Disclaimer: Obviously do not own Attack on Titan. Enjoy!

Everyone knew about Eren’s obsession with Titans.

He talked about it. A lot. Well, not every day, but when the topic arose, he would go on and on about Titans. How he was going to kill every single one of them, how much he hated them, how he would go to every corner of the known world to kill them all, blah blah blah. The typical thing.  And everyone knew that a fight with a Titan was a easy one way trip to death.

Which is how Eren earned his nickname, “The Suicidal Bastard.”

But even the stubborn could agree that Eren had the highest determination of joining the Survey Corps more than anybody else in the Trainee camp. He worked vigorously in his classes, calling anyone out who he felt that didn’t take it seriously.

Like Jean Kirchstein.

Everyone knew that Jean always spoke what was on his mind. He just didn’t care what people said behind his back, what they called him. He just said it. Brutal honesty, he thought of it. He spoke what he thought, often without thinking about it first.

Which was one of the main contributors about how he and Eren constantly ended up at each other’s throat daily.

Thing was that Eren and Jean were stubborn. Since they had really opposing views, and personalities, they always butted heads. When one thought it was blue, the other said it was purple. When one wanted to kill Titans, the other thought it was stupid.

Instead of letting it go, they bickered.

When their fellow classmates and friends thought about their weird rivalry began, it was funny to see just how far they have come. On their first day, Eren and Jean argued about how Eren wanted to kill Titans, but then made peace about it afterwards. “Let’s try and be friends, okay?” And they gave each other a low high five and walked away.

The next day, it was all normal and okay. It was peaceful as people began to get to know each other a bit.

Until Jean teased Eren about how much he sucked at 3DMG.

And then, it never stopped. Two long years. After that, everyone knew they had beef with each other, so they just sat back and stepped in when they thought it was about to get bloody. Which was mostly Mikasa and Marco’s role.

“Lovers dispute?” Sasha asked one evening in the mess hall, as Eren and Jean argued. Of course, that got the attention in the room and everyone turned to her, including Eren and Jean.

“Shut up Potato Girl!” they said in unison. And continued right back to bickering.

That night, as the girls were getting ready for bed, Ymir laid upside down in her bunk and said, “Boys are stupid."

“Which boys?”

“Obviously those two idiots, Eren and Jean. They argue like they’re married, for fuck’s sake,” Ymir replied.

“They do argue a lot,” Sasha noted.

“You don’t think Jean likes Eren, don’t you?” Christa asked.

Sasha gasped. “Maybe Eren likes Jean!” she exclaimed.

The chatter eventually went on to how Eren and Jean were blinded with rage to see what they truly saw. But of course, they all shut up when Mikasa entered the room and went to sleep.

The next day, they were having a break from the typical Titan slicing exercises in the woods.

At the bottom of a tree, Ymir, Christa, Reiner and Bertholdt were sitting, passing the water canteen around.

“They know how to slice a Titan’s neck but they’re still stupid in romance,” Ymir added.

“Oh come on,” Bertholdt rolled his eyes.

“Are you blind, Bertholdt? Look at how much they argue.”

“It’s because they’re stubborn. Nothing more to it.”

“Stubborn my ass. It’s because they like each other.”

“They’re getting some mixed signals, I won’t lie about that,” Reiner added.

“It’s things like Jean’s stupidity on romance that also reminds me why I’m gay.”

“Ouch, Ymir. That’s a bit harsh.”

“But it’s true.”

“As much as I hate to admit it….” Reiner replied, earning Ymir giving him the bird. "Ymir is right."

They went back to slicing dummy Titan’s necks a few moments later.

A few nights after that, Eren and Jean got into a fight that was close enough to be getting bloody. Mikasa and Marco pulled them away.

After that, Eren said that they could always fight in hand to hand combat training. They wouldn’t get in trouble for it and they’d improve, seeing that they haven’t actually fought each other yet rather than the few punches they’ve swung at each other just now.

And of course, Jean couldn’t say no to that.

The next day, Eren and Jean partnered up and began sparring in hand to hand combat training. But even then, even they couldn’t stop bickering as one slammed the other onto the ground or as they pinned each other around the legs.

“Does it hurt, Horseface?” Eren smirked once he knocked Jean completely on the ground. He sat on his legs, for good measure.

On the other side of the field, Ymir groaned. “Not again.”

“Here they go again….” Connie sighed.

Angry, Jean wiped some dirt off his neck and scoffed. “In your dreams, asshole.”

“Wow, what a good comeback,” Eren replied sarcastically.

“Fuck off.”

Jean then turned around and flipped Eren over, earning a mutter of “Shit!” and stumbling back on the ground. The wooden knife that was the point of the exercise laid on the ground, forgotten. That was, until the teacher showed up, which made Eren scramble for the wooden knife, making it look like he and Jean were practicing instead of trying to publicly beat the shit out of each other.

After Eren’s leg faltered and pathetically missed Jean’s side, Jean began instructing Eren on a better way to fight.

“Those two are unpredictable, aren’t they?” Reiner asked, looking over to Jean and Eren discussing where it’s a good place to kick.

“Tell me about it,” Bertholdt rolled his eyes.

“At least we don’t get to witness bloodshed in the mess hall anymore.”

“You never know with those two.”

Knowing what Bertholdt said was completely true, Reiner still kept an eye on them as they sparred.

Reiner was curious. Just what the hell was going on between them?

According to Sasha, the girls in the dormitory would end sometimes gossiping up a storm at night from bunk to bunk about what exactly was going on between the two. Reiner didn’t mind the gossip, because it was a teenage thing to do. It felt normal.

That and because he was as curious as the girls were too.

A few weeks later,  before they began sparring practice, Jean doubled over, clutching his stomach. “Fuck,” he mumbled.

Startled, Eren knelt down next to Jean. “Are you okay?! You look like you’re in pain.”

Sometimes, Jean felt like smacking Eren for not seeing the obvious. “No shit, Yeager. I got a fucking cramp,” Jean replied, his teeth gritting. He was in pain. So much pain.

“Hang on,” Eren helped Jean lean against the wall of a cart, making sure his leg was comfortable.

And thus, they sat there for a good five minutes, keeping a wary eye out for the teacher. They talked and exchanged tips on how to avoid cramps.

Once Jean felt a little better, he got up and began to spar with Eren, no warning given. And they went at it, using the wooden knife for once.

It went on for weeks. Eren and Jean being nice to each other. People eventually got used to it, but the small signals Reiner could see still went on.

Well, they went on, subtly enough of course. On the nights when they didn’t argue or bicker, Reiner would catch Eren watching a very unaware Jean as he talked and laughed with Marco in the mess hall. He could notice Jean looking at Eren when he was talking with his classmates when Eren thought he wasn’t looking. Not with anger or distaste, but with curiosity. Hesitance almost.

But whenever Reiner tried to talk to Jean about Eren, he would get an eyeroll and an annoyed reply of “Eren’s an obsessive bastard with a Titan fetish. Who cares about him?” and he would change the subject.

Eren’s response was almost the same thing. “What’s Jean to me? He’s a horsefaced asshole, that’s what he is.” And then he would change the subject.

They still sparred with other people. Eren would spar with Reiner, but just because Reiner asked him before Eren would team up with Jean. Mikasa would spar with Eren sometimes. Jean would spar with Marco and Connie, when the latter wasn’t sparring with Sasha of course. Ymir would still talk shit about them as they sparred together, but that was expected, because it was Ymir.

It soon began expanding to classes.

As bewildered eyes watched, Eren would sit next to Jean in class, working together on fixing maneuver gear. Maybe Reiner’s eyes were playing tricks on him, but they would move their chairs just a bit closer together, little by little. Their arms would touch slightly, but that was it.

Ymir rolled her eyes and swore that one day, she was going to lock up both of them in a room and leave them there until they did something.

Then one day, everyone was surprised when they saw Jean and Eren fall into a heap during sparring practice, not because of a punch or a cramp, but because of laughter. They laid on the ground, laughing.

It was alarming enough for everyone to stop sparring. Christa gasped. Ymir groaned out loud. Armin and Marco both stood, saying nothing. Sasha giggled. Mikasa raised her eyebrows.

Reiner, well, he was as surprised as the rest of them.

Jean stood up first and helped Eren get up, offering his hand. And then, they would continue sparring, only with a small smile rather than a scowl.

It was small enough, but enough for people to be skeptical. This was out of the norm. Whenever Jean and Eren left the room together, to study, to walk, to class, to spar, to practice in the room, people would mumble. Mikasa would only raise her eyebrows, not say much. Armin and Marco would glance at each other, confusion evident in their faces.

If even people close to Jean and Eren like Mikasa, Armin and Marco didn’t know what was going on,  then there was no way anyone else would know.

Reiner noticed the small eyerolls with an small affectionate smile Eren had when he overhead Jean talking about something stupid. He noticed Jean letting out a “well, whatever” sigh when Eren ranted about Titans, rather than fighting with him about it. They would occasionally make eye contact across the room, quickly looking away.

But they were still training to be soldiers, of course. The training was vigorous and intense. Some days, the exhaustion was too much and they fell asleep right away.

But everyone had sleepless nights. Where they were so exhausted, but not being able to sleep.

During one night of those nights, Eren climbed up from his bunk and crept into Jean’s bed. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he was doing it.

“Yeager, what are you doing?” Jean asked, sounding exhausted.

“Can’t sleep,” Eren mumbled,

“And?”

“You can’t sleep either. I can hear you thrashing around from my bunk.”

“How’s this supposed to help?”

“I don’t know.”

“....”

“Just make me some room, please.”

“Don’t kick me off the bed,” Jean replied, making Eren some room.

“No promises.”

At first, Jean felt stiff. What was Eren doing in his bed? Why? More importantly, how? But then, he eventually let himself to wrap his arm around Eren. It….It felt nice. Eren was warm. Obviously from the blanket, of course.  Eren complied. They fell asleep right away.

When Reiner woke up a bit earlier than the others and saw them curled up against each other and sharing the same blanket, he felt a sense of relief. He mentally thanked the based God for something finally happening.

Jean…..He looked content. Hand on Eren’s back, in pure bliss. Eren’s head was against Jean’s chest,  looking comfortable. They slept soundly. The blanket covered both of them, comfortably enough.

But, they were in a dormitory full of boys. As everyone slowly began stirring awake, Eren woke up. And once he realized what was going on, he got out of bed, waking up Jean. And blushing, he scrambled down the ladder and back to his bunk to get dressed, leaving Jean to do the same.

Next to a very flustered Eren, Armin was confused, asking him questions, which Eren avoided as he pulled on his pants. It was almost the same with Marco and Jean, save for Jean furiously blushing and not saying a single thing.

Reiner just chuckled to himself. He knew what he saw. It wasn’t going away anytime soon.

And of course, whenever anyone brought it up, Eren and Jean were in denial about it for the rest of the day.

 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hopefully it wasn’t too OOC. This is my first time I have ever actually written Attack on Titan and finished it. It felt nice though, writing and completing a fic. It makes me feel productive. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed!


End file.
